Wenstrup & Comer Launch First Select Subcommittee Investigation into COVID Origins and U.S. Taxpayer Dollars Funneled to the Wuhan Lab

Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) are requesting senior Biden Administration officials, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the president of EcoHealth Alliance provide information necessary to the Select Subcommittee and Oversight Committee’s investigation into COVID origins. The letters follow up on December 13, 2022 requests for the same documents, information, and testimony and are also signed by Republican members of the Select Subcommittee.

“The American people deserve real answers after years of suffering through the Coronavirus pandemic and related government policies. This investigation must begin with where and how this virus came about so that we can attempt to predict, prepare or prevent it from happening again. Government scientists and government funded researchers have so far been less-than-forthcoming in their knowledge and actions, including work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and potential pandemic pathogens. We can’t accept more years of stonewalling; the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is committed to conducting a proper investigation that the American people have demanded,” said Select Subcommittee Chairman Wenstrup.

“Understanding the origins of COVID-19 is essential to providing accountability and protecting Americans in the future,” said Chairman Comer. “Evidence continues to mount pointing to the virus leaking from an unsecure lab in Wuhan. We know EcoHealth Alliance acted as a middleman, improperly funneling thousands of taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan lab to conduct risky gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses which could have started the pandemic. Dr. Fauci was alerted early on that COVID-19 had markings of a manipulated virus yet may have chosen to cover it up instead of blowing the whistle. We will continue to follow the facts to determine what could have been done differently to better protect Americans from this virus and hold U.S. government officials that took part in any sort of cover up accountable.”

In the 117th Congress, Oversight Committee Republicans sent numerous letters to officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The Committee’s investigation has already uncovered three key facts: growing evidence shows COVID-19 likely originated from the Wuhan Lab and the Chinese Communist Party covered it up; U.S. taxpayer dollars were being funneled to the Wuhan Lab to conduct risky gain-of-function research on novel bat coronaviruses; and Dr. Fauci was aware of this information at the start of the pandemic and may have acted to conceal the information by intentionally downplaying the lab leak theory. More information is needed to further the investigation and inform legislative solutions.

Read the letters here: